Chapter Eleven: Textbook Austens: From McGuffey's Readers to National LampoonON READING LISTS, SINCE 1838Would you believe that the first known instance of Jane Austen's novels appearing in a recommended reading list for students was in 1838? Learn about Austen as she's been used in school settings in this chapter.

BEFORE CHAPMAN'S AUSTENWe've heard a lot about the editorial innovations of Austen scholar R. W. Chapman, and more recently about the groundbreaking work of his wife, Katharine Metcalfe, but what do you know about their editor-predecessor Josephine Heermans? She was a Missouri schoolteacher who paid meticulous attention to editions and texts in her Pride and Prejudice (1908), years before the Chapmans.

ON PUTTING AUSTEN BEFORE BUSLOADS OF SCHOOLCHILDRENChapter four describes dramatized Austen as used in community groups and schools. By the mid twentieth century, Austen's novels were being taught in schools in further new ways, sometimes with direct tie-ins to radio and film. The 1960s re-release of the MGM 1940 Pride and Prejudice is a prime example, as a joint educational-commercial venture that brought kids to see Austen at the movies by the busloads.

ON AUSTEN'S BEING HIP ENOUGH FOR NATIONAL LAMPOONAnd did you know that there was a Jane Austen poster in the National Lampoon "School of Hard Sell" series in 1971? Read about it and other educational uses of Austen in Chapter Eleven.

Is It right for your book club?

Yes, definitely! The paperback edition now includes a brief reader's guide with discussion questions. I'd love to hear from you if you're considering choosing it.

This book works best in clubs familiar with Austen's fiction OR its film adaptations. (You could read or watch Pride and Prejudice and then choose this book.)